Venetian blind



May 13, 1952 w. c. KINCAID VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 24, 1949 INVENTOR. WALTER C. K INCAID q a 5 w and vision.

1 cleaning and repair.

Patented May 13, 1952 VENETIAN BLIND Walter Cameron Kincaid; Pueblo County, Colo. Application 311562 1, 1949, crial No. 101,117

This invention relates to improvement in.- Venetian blinds. l :xVenetian blinds. are extensively employed in residences and oilice buildings and have been found to be very satisfacto forcontrollin light The ordinary Venetian blind, in spite of its desirable qualities, has many objectionable features which it is the object of this invention to remedy.

. It is .the object of this invention to produce a Venetian blind that can be quickly and easily installed and which can be readily ren ovecl for Another object is to produce a van-ac blind of such construction that when it is in fully open position it will obstruct. vision and light as little 1. furtherobject is tdtrtduceia an st t me that dispenses with the cords nowcommdmy "used for tilting the slats and which also dispensewith the usual cords for raising the lower; end. of,.the blind.

A still further. object is to trotted-avenged blind that is normally held in fullyextended position under spring tension which prevents it from swaying in response .to .air currents w en; the windowisopenL i. I T.

A further object is" to produce a, Venetian blind that has a pivoted connection withthe'window at a point between its ends and, in which, that part above the. said (pivotal connection is icon- M stantly under spring tension andban th efore be adjusted to any position m eitne par tpemw is in raised collapsed position. f

. Another object is to produce avenetianiblind of .such construction that the slats can individually be quickly rernov'ed for cleaning and as quickly and. easily replaced, providinginieans for the interchange of slats and effecting'ajpp'gafa I variations. 1 1

A still further object is to produce ialblind of i such construction that the supporting tapes" are replaced by open link chains which obstruct the .light andyision less thantape A further. object is to produce all/en Qianjb'lind L that can .be constructed entirely of rne'tal and which can be removedas. a unit Orwashing.

A still further object isto produc laveneltian blind in which there need benoiabr and which requires no pulleys or gears and whichfinay be constructed of any suitable metals.

l The above and any otherobjects bel come apparent as the description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and arrange- I ment. of parts that will now be described detai mfor. which purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illustrated and in which:

i. Figure 1 1s anqnt elevation {showing tIie' blind ihiullii xtehdiadposition and partly tilted} gure i2 a "View "similarto thatshown in Figure 1 but shows the lowerfendinjraised or elevated position; 1 l

1 Figure isa section talsen on IineA -A Figure" 2;' [Figure 5 is a side elevation of the support and ,.Figure 6 is aside elevation taken on line B- -B Figure f1,"'showihgffone or thefb'llhd supporting pivot beingshown resections;

Figure? is a topplaii View o'f the bracketlooking downwardly through plane" 1! in'Figure 6; Figure 8 is ase'c'ti'o'n taken on line 88 Figure 1,

showing the intermediate bra ket "and the'operating tilt rail mechanism;"' y

Figure 9' isa'ectiontakenon line 9 9 Figure Hanan lfigure 10 is a fragmentary perspective view 1 showing the manner in'wh'ih the slats are supported and longitudinally positioned.

.1 the dmWiHg reierence numeral 1 5 designates are ordinary window frame having sides I 6 and 11, top' s andbottom l9; secured to the sides 16 and, adjacent their upper endslaretraekets 20. having each notch 2 I? in itsiippr edge, form- ,ing' bearings forthe pivots 2'2'at the ends of the top tilt rail 23. The pivots, as shown, are-formed by. the ends of a rod that is spot welded or otherwise attached to; the under surface of the V top tilt raiL.

"Attached to sides flti and ll at points about midway between the top and the bottom of the window are brackets 25 having their lower edges "provided with notches 26 that form'bearings for ""pivo'ts "21 attached to the u'ndensurface of the operating" tilt bar 28, the l'atterisprovided near one'en'dwith"a' short 'handle'29; The lower end 2 of the blind is formed by aslightl'y upwardly con- V'eii lilting" rail su p'p6r't"30"having" attached "thereto a pivot-banana? Two pair of chains 3!, 1 constructedfwith'open links'in'the nianner shown inFig l e ateat at theirupper ends to 'thetop tilt rail by 'r'neans'bf short'tenslon springs f nttachedto the i'nner surfaces l1, near" their lower ends, are guideibrackets or of sides' IG and anchor bars 33 each of which has an edge pro- 3 vided with two or more narrow upwardly ranging notches 34 and the lower ends of the chains are attached to the lifting rail support 30 and are of such length with respect to the distance between the bottoms of notches 2| and 35 that when the ends. of pivot bar 3011 are positioned in notches 35, springs 32 will be under tension.

Brackets are so positioned that when the ends of pivot bar 300. are positioned in notches 35 the ends of pivot bar 21 will be positioned in notches 26 but out of contact therewith so that the force exerted by springs 32 will be resisted entirely by notches 35 and pivots 30a. When pivots 30a are disconnected from notches springs 32 move pivots 2'! into engagement with the bottoms of notches 26, as shown in Figure 8; It is therefore possible to disconnect the lifting rail support and its pivots from notches 35 raise them and position them in notches 34 as in Figure 4. That position of the blind below brackets 25 is thus supported from notches 34. With the parts in the position shown in Figure 4 the operating tilt bar 28 and all parts above may be rocked the same as when the ,parts are positioned as shown in Figure 3.

The ends of pivot bar 35a are formed noncircular and of such size that when they are positioned in notches 34 they cannot turn and will therefore hold the lifting rail substantially horizontal forming a shelf on which the raised portions are supported at uniformly spaced intervals the two chains of each pair are joined by short sections of wireor chain 35 on which the upwardly convex blind slats 31 are supported, as shown in Figure 10. Slats 31 are provided at least on one edge with notches 38 that are positioned to receive cross wires 36 or chains 3| when the slats are tilted; this prevents the slats from moving longitudinally.

It will be observed that slats 31 rest on and are loosely supported by the cross links 36 and they can therefore be readily removed and replaced for cleaning.

Referring now to Figures 6 and '7 it will be seen that one pivot at the end of the top tilt rail has connected therewith a clutch or braking device comprising a spring bent into an elongated U-shape and positioned with its bight enclosing fixed stationary pin 39 attached to window frame. The free ends of the spring are curved to embrace the pivot. The amount of friction can be regulated by screw 4 I. This braking device or clutch is adjusted to hold the top tilt rail in any position to which it may be adjusted by the operating tilt.

Attention is directed to the ease'with which the blind assembly can be removed from the window and replaced. When the lifting rail support is released from its pivotal'connection with notches 35 and the operating tilt rail released from its. connection with brackets 25 the top tilt rail can be lifted from brackets 23. Brake spring '40 may remain attached to the pivot and removed from pin 39 thereby retaining the brake adjustment unchanged when the top tilt rail is replaced. The slats may be removed for cleaning by tilting them sufficiently to remove the notches fro-m engagement with the chains or links and they may be readily replaced by a reverse action.

. After the blind assembly hasbeen put into position plate 42 is attached to brackets 20 and covers the top tilt rail and brackets 20 as shown in Figure 2.

The slats are selected of the proper length to fit the window to be covered and are each provided with notches or cutouts to span the ends of the crossties 35, which, as above explained, re-,

tain them in proper position under all working conditions and permits their ready removal for cleaning.

Chains 3! may be of the construction shown in Figure 10 or of any other suitable construction. The construction employing chains is important for the reason that their lengths remain constant and therefore the necessary adjustments will be retained, for exampleflthe distance between pivots 22 on the top tilt rail and the ends of pivot bar 36a on the lifting rail must always be less than the distance between notches 2| and 35 so that, when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1 the assembly will be under tension. It is also necessary that the distance between pivots 3Ga and 21 shall be slightly less than the distance between notches 2B and 35 to permit the entire assembly to be tensioned. It is further necessary that the normal distance between pivots 22 and 21 shall be somewhat less than'the distance between notches 2! and 25 so that the part above brackets 25 will be under tension when the parts are in the position shown in Figures 2 and 4.

For single sash Windows the operating rail 28 may be dispensed with and the tilting effected by rocking the lifting rail support 30.

I claim:

l. A Window blind of the Venetian type for use in a window frame with vertical sides, the combination with said frame of a pair of brackets attached to the sides near their upper ends, a second pair of brackets attached to the sides near their lower ends the upper pair having notches on top, the lower pair being elongated and provided with notches in their lower ends and also along one vertical edge, a tilt rail having pivots resting in the notches in the tops of the upper brackets, a lift rail having pivots at its ends for engagement with the notches in the lower ends of the lower brackets, four tension springs attached'in pairs to the edges of the tilt rail adjacent the ends thereof, a slat tilting member attached to the lower end of each spring with their lower ends connected with the lift rail in a manner to effect simultaneous equal angular tilting of the rails, a plurality of spaced slats supported in parallel relation between the tilting members, the length of. the springs, the tilting members and the distance between the notches in the lower ends of the lower brackets and the notches in the upper brackets being greater than the distance between the pivots on the rails whereby the tension in the springs will be increased when the lifting rail is pivoted in the end notches of the lower brackets.

2. A window blind in accordance with claim 1 in which slats are wider than the distance between the tilting members and have their edges provided with notches for the reception'of the tilting members, thereby holding the slats in longitudinally adjusted position, being removable without assembly change.

3. A window blind in accordance with claim 1 in which there is a third pair of brackets attached to the sides of the frame substantially midway between the upper and lower pair of brackets, said brackets having notches on their lower edges, and a bar carried by the lifting members, projecting beyond the ends of the slats for engagement in the notches in the last named brackets. the distance from the nivots of the 5 tilting rail to the rod being less than the distance between the notches in the first and the last mentioned brackets whereby the lifting members will be put under increased tension when the bar is in engagement with the last mentioned brackets.

WALTER CAMERON KINCAID.

REFERENCES CITED 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Fisher May 12, 1891 Fowler et a1 Feb. 16, 1932 Weisfeld Mar. 27, 1934 Bennett Feb. 9, 1937 Laborda et a1 May 3, 1938 Guy Oct. 17, 1939 Reinike Sept. 10, 1940 Slattery Mar. 17, 1942 West Apr. 18, 1950 

